Bag tying machines



May 5, 1964 w. J. WILSON ETAL BAG TYING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledJune 29, 1961 INVENTORS MN 2 R u mw %J cw B Y I OER/AM 3- BLACK/MM May5, 1964 w. J. WILSON ETAL BAG TYING MACHINES INVENTORS P5 mesa/x4 3Sheets-Sheet 2 OER/AN & BLACK/MM ATTOENEVS mm .M fdg 1 A CARL h.

Filed June 29, 1961 y 1964 w, J. WILSON ETAL BAG TYING MACHINES 3Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 29, 1961 5; M MWWM NSwK v .WR/CS NEW v,

m w m MA w M @Ww W //4 ma /Z4 United States Patent 3,131,520 BAG TYINGMAC ES Willard J. Wilson and Carl H. Peterson, both of 9739 Burke Ave.,Seattle, Wash. Filed June 29, 1961, Ser. No. 120,591 7 Claims. (Cl.53l.76)

This invention pertains to new and improved bag tying machines and to amethod of tying bags.

Bags or sacks are commonly used as containers for many types ofdifferent goods. Virtually whenever a bag or sack is used as a containerin prepackaging various goods the top of such a bag or sack must beclosed in one manner or another. A wide variety of different means have,of course, been used for this general type of purpose. Thus, forexample, in the past bags have been sealed by various stitching, heatsealing and other procedures. Although methods of these generalizedtypes are well established and although machines for carrying out theseknown types of sealing procedures are in common usage, there isnevertheless a need for comparatively inexpensive structures of areliable character which can be used in closing bags containingdifferent types of commodities and goods.

A broad object of the present invention is to provide new and improvedbag tying machines meeting this need. Another object of the presentinvention is to provide bag tying machines which can be constructed at acomparatively nominal cost, which are capable of reliable performanceand which are capable of being easily used for the intended purpose. Afurther object of the present invention is to provide a new simple,effective method for use in tying bags containing various commodities sothat these bags are closed.

These and various other objects of this invention as well as manyspecific advantages of it will be apparent to those skilled in the fieldto which this invention pertains from a detailed consideration of theremainder of this specification including the appended claims and from aconsideration of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective View of a tying machine of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken at line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken at line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken at line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken at line 5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional View taken at line 66 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged partial sectional View showing the operation of aguillotine cutter bar used with the tying machine; and

FIGS. 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 are diagrammatic views indicating stepsperformed during the operation of the complete invention.

The accompanying drawings are primarily intended so as to clearlyillustrate a presently preferred embodiment or form of this invention.Those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains will realizethat various differently appearing machines may readily be constructedthrough the use or exercise of routine engineering skill so as toutilize the essential features embodied within the machine shown in theaccompanying drawings. For this reason the accompanying drawings are notto be taken as limiting this invention. The appended claims forming apart of this specification set forth and define the various featuresembodied within the bag tying machine illustrated which are consideredto constitute the present invention.

3,131,520 Patented May 5, 1964 Although the present invention isconsidered to be summarized in these appended claims, for the purpose ofunderstanding the invention it can be stated in essentially summary formthat it pertains to bag-tying machines, each of which includes holdingmeans for holding the top of a bag; engaging means for twisting a bag bycontact with it as its top is held by the holding means so as to providea twisted neck in the bag; stabilizing means for preventing such atwisted neck from untwisting as its top is held by the holding means;and closure locating and closure tying means for locating aself-supporting deformable closure capable of being bent to a desiredconfiguration around the twisted neck of a bag held by both the holdingmeans and the engaging means and then tying this closure about this neckso as to effectively close the bag.

Apparatus The actual details of this invention will be apparent from acareful consideration of the accompanying draw ings. Here there is showna complete bag-tying machine 10 of the present invention which includesa framework 12 used to support the entire machine 16. This frameworkincludes side members 14 which hold bearings 16. These bearings 16through the use of small shafts 18 rotatably hold a complete supporttable 20 which in turn holds the principal parts of the machine 10 ashereinafter described. With this construction the support table 20 maybe rotated so that the various part mounted upon the undersurface of itas visible in FIG. 3 may be exposed for servicing and other relatedoperations. Normally the support table 2t) is covered by means of aprotective cover or hood 22 which is located upon the framework 12 asindicated in FIG. 1. This hood 22 carries various controls 24 used instarting and stopping the complete machine it).

The support table 20 consists of two elongated rectangular members 26which are joined together by means of vertically extending braces 28 asindicated in FIG. 2 of the drawings so as to define an elongated slot 30which extends completely from one end of the machine It to the other endof this machine between the members 26. Upon one of the members 26 thereis mounted a conventional electric motor 32. which serves to drive agear train 34 in order to cause the rotation of various pulleys ashereinafter described. This gear train 34 consists of a plurality ofindividual gears 36, each of which is mounted upon a shaft 38 held bythe support table 20.

As is best seen in FIG. 3 of the drawings two of the shafts 38 are usedto transmit rotation ot two different pulleys 40 located on oppositesides of the slot 36. These pulleys 44 work in conjunction with otherpulleys 42 which are mounted upon further shafts 44 on the members 26adjacent to the end of the support table 2%? remote from the pulleys 40.An elongated conventional V-belt 46 is mounted so as to extend aroundeach of the pulleys 40 and one of the pulleys 42. With this constructionthe V-belts 46 are located so as to extend adjacent to one anothergenerally in the vertical plane of the slot 30 immediately below thisslot 30 during the operation of the entire machine it). From the arrowsindicated on the pulleys 4t) and 42 in FIG. 3 of the drawings it will beseen that the belts 46 travel between the ends of the machine ltlbeneath the slot 30 parallel to one another. The belts 48-5 also travelat the same speed.

One of the members 26 holds an elongated back-up bar 48 having a groove56 formed therein. The groove 50 is adapted to receive the internal edgeof one of the V-belts 46. A mounting bar 52 is located on the member 26remote from the back-up bar 48. This mounting bar 52 is provided with aseries of spaced holes 54 which extend through it generally toward theback-up bar 48. This mounting bar 52 is utilized in order to support aplurality of pushers 56 which are employed in order to resiliently holdthe two V-belts 46 against one another during the normal operation ofthe machine 10. Each of these pushers 56 includes a comparatively shortbar 58 from the back of which there extends pins 60, each of which pins66 extends through one of the holes 54. Small leaf springs 62 aremounted upon the mounting bar 52 by means of screws 64 in such a mannerthat the extremities of the springs 62 bear against the pins 69 so as tourge the pushers 56 toward the back-up bar 48. Each of the pushers 56includes a groove 66 corresponding to the groove 50 previouslydescribed.

From a consideration of FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings it will be seenthat one of the shafts 38 which is rotated by the gear train 34 servesto rotate an enlarged pulley 68; the pulley 68 is located on theundersurface of the supporting table 26 generally beneath the V-belts46. An elastomeric belt 70 having an irregular or notched externalsurface is used with the pulley 63 in such a manner as to cause arotation of another'pulley 72. This other pulley 72 serves to drive ashaft 74 which in turn drives a conventional V-belt pulley 76. Thispulley 76 works in conjunction with another conventional V-belt 78 so asto drive a further pulley 80. This further pulley 80 causes rotation ofa shaft 82 which is attached to it so as to transmit motion to a pulley84. This pulley 84 works in connection with a belt 86 which is similarto the belt '70 in order to cause rotation of another pulley 88 which ismounted upon a shaft 96. The shafts 74, 82 and 90 are, of course,mounted on one of the members 26.

From the foregoing it will be seen that with the machine 19 the motor 32is utilized so as to drive a number of different separate belts; from anexamination of the drawings the relative sizes of the pulleys driven bythe motor 32 will be realized. Brieflly, the belt 86 is operated so thatthe linear movement between the pulleys 84 and 88 is more rapid than thelinear movement of the V-belts 46 beneath the slot 30 and that the belt70 operates at a speed which corresponds to the linear speed of theV-belts 46. It will, of course, be real'med the belts 70 and 36 arelocated generally beneath the support table 20 so as to be spacedfurther from this support table than the V-belts 46. It will also berealized that these belts 70 and 86 move between the respective pulleysholding them in paths which are parallel to the paths of the V-belts 46and with the slot 34 From a consideration of FIG. 4 of the drawings itwill be realized that the belt 86 travels generally beneath the slot 30so as to be offset slightly to one side of the vertical plane passingthrough the slot 30 and so as to be oifset in the same manner withrespect to the V-belts 46 in the areas Where these V-belts move so as tobe held against one another. of the drawings it will be realized thatthe belt 70 is also located to one side of a vertical plane passingthrough the slot 30 and between the V-belts 46, and that this belt 70 islocated further from the support table 20 than the belt 36.

In the machine there is utilized an elongated engaging bar 92 having ahigh friction type of rubber or similar corrugated surface 94 which isgenerally located so as to face the belt 86. This surface 94 extends ina serpentine-like path so that the parts of it are spaced further fromthe belt 86 than other parts of it. An extremity 96. of the engaging bar92 adjacent to an end of the table 2% is curved away from the slot 349as shown in FIG. 3. This engaging bar 92 is mounted upon brackets 9%which are held with respect to one another on one of the members 26 bymeans of bolts 10% in such a manner that the relative position betweenthe engaging bar 92 and the belt 86 may be, easily changed during theoperation of the machine 19.

A bearing 162 on one of the members 26 carries a bell-crank shaped arm104 which in turn supports a com pressing bar 166. This bar is normallybiased for rota- From a consideration of FIG. 6'

tion by means of a small spring 108 which is located between it and themember 26. The same member 26 which carries the bearing 162 also carriesa further bearing 110 which in turn holds a neck-squeezing plate 112having a bifurcated, fork-like end 114. This plate 112 also includesanother cam shaped end 116 which is designed so as to engage anoperating arm 118 extending from a micro-switch 129. This switch 120 ismounted upon the member 26.

The member 26 remote from the member 26 holding the compressing bar 196and the plate 112 holds a backup housing 122 which is located so as tohave a surface 124 normally engaged by the compressing bar 106. Thishousing 124 serves as a bearing so as to carry a shaft 126 which carriesa tying screw 123 having a generally helical type of shape as indicatedin FIG. 6 of the drawings. Power is supplied to the shaft 126 from amotor 130 through an electromagnetic clutch, 132, an electric brake 134and a universal joint and gear drive 136.

The member 26 holding the housing 122 also holds another housing 138which in turn covers a rotatable spool 14% mounted upon this particularmember 26. The spool 140 is used as a supply for a flat, elongated,selfsupporting, deformable tying strand 142. As shown in FIG. 3 of thedrawings the strand 142 extends from the spool 14% around a corner 144used for straightening purposes and into a tube 146 which is mountedupon a drive block 148. This block holds frictional rollers 150 havingelastorneric surfaces in engagement with one another. With thisstructure the strand 142 passes through these rollers 1519 so that whenthey are rotated it is advanced through another tube 152 into a hole 154within the back-up housing 122. One of the rollers 150 is normallypowered from the motor 130 by means of a drive 156 extending from theelectric brake 134.

In the housing 122 the hole 154 is traversed by a passage 158 containinga guillotine type cutter bar 160 (FIG. 7). This cutter bar 161} extendsout from the passage so as to be operatively connected to a solenoid 162mounted upon the support table 20. A spring 166 is located so as to bebiased by the cutter 160' and the housing 122 for the purpose of normalyholding this cutter 169 so that the strand 142 can be moved past it.

Upon the undersurface of the support table 20; an

elongated trip lever 168 is mounted so as to be capable of rotatingabout a bearing 170. This trip lever 168 isv used so as to actuate amicro-switch 172 which in turn is mounted upon a member 26 as indicatedin FIG. 3.

Operation The machine 14) is utilized in tying the neck ofbags such asthe bag Zilil indicated in FIGS. 812 of'thedrawings, through the use ofa small segment or length 202 of deformable tying material obtained fromthe strand 142 through the operation of the cutter bar 160 in severing 7this strand 142. For convenience of description the operation of the.tying machine 10 will be described in the following in connection withthe tying of a single bag 20% although, obviously, this machine inintended to be continuously used in tying a series of bags. 7

During the use of the machine 10 the bag 200 enters the slot 30 asindicated by the arrows in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings. between theV-belts 46 so that the top of this bag 200 is held against motion bythese V-belts 46. These V- belts serve as holding. means so as to holdthe top of the bag 2% as the bag is moved between the ends'of thesupport table 2% along the'length of the slot 30 by engagement of thebelts 46. The pushers 56 are capable of giving suihciently during theoperation of the machine 19 so as to accommodate the bag 26% as ittravels inthis manner;

As soon as the bag 2531) is held between belts 46 itis engaged by theengaging bar 92 a short distance below the neck 2% of this bag asindicated in FIG. 4 of the draw- As it enters this area it is engagedings. As this occurs the bag 200 tends to be rotated as it is draggedalong the surface of the engaging bar 92. As the bag 200 moves alongthis engaging bar 92 it is also engaged by the belt 86 so as to betwisted to a configuration as indicated in FIG. 9 of the drawings. Thistwisting is considered to be important. The difference in the linearspeeds of the belts 46 and 86 is, of course, a cause of this twistingaction caused by the belt 86.

When the bag 200 passes from between the engaging bar 92 and the belt 86it is picked up so as to rest against the belt 70. This belt 70 servesto prevent untwisting of the neck 206 as the entire bag is beingconveyed further through the machine 10. Because of this the belt 70 maybe termed a stabilizing means. During such movement the neck 206 engagesthe trip lever 168 so as to actuate the micro-switch 172 in order toaccomplish a function as hereinafter described. At about the point thatthe neck 206 engages the trip lever 168 it is forced by the compressorbar 106 against the surface of the housing 122 so as to be compressedtoward a generally flat configuration. While the neck 206 is compressedin this manner it is moved past the length 202 which has been severedfrom the strand 142 through the operation of the guillotine cutter bar160. In eifect, the neck 206 moves against the strand 142 as indicatedin FIG. 10 of the drawings and deforms the length 202 as indicated inFIG. 11 of the drawings by contact with this strand so as to be bentmore or less in the configuration of a common clothespin or cotterpinextending at right angles to the twisted neck 206. From this it will beseen that the hole 154 holds the severed length 202 traverse to the pathof movement of the neck 206 so as to act, in effect, as aclosure-locating means which serves to locate the length 202 about theneck 206.

As the bag 200 moves past the engaging bar 92 the bag comes intoengagement with the end 114 of the plate 112. This end 114 engages theneck 206 immediately below the length 202 so as to effectively squeezethis neck 206 as tightly closed as possible. As the bag 200 movesfurther the plate 112 rotates along with the neck 206 so as to intensifythe squeezing action against the surface of the back-up housing 122. Asthe neck 206 is located adjacent to the tying screw 128 it is heldtightly twisted and tightly closed. At this point the tying screw 128 isrotated so that the extremity 208 of it picks up the trailing edge ofthe length 202 and twists this length as indicated in FIG. 12 of thedrawings, tying the bag 200 closed. The extremty 208 extends far enoughfrom the axis of the rotation of the screw 128 so as to pass through avertical plane extending through the slot 30 as this screw rotates. Thistwist extends along the length 202 because as it is being made the tyingscrew 128 continues to rotate. As the bag 200 moves past the tying screwthe plate 112 turns further until finally the neck 206 is disengaged.The bag then is conveyed by engagement with the V-belts 46 out of themachine 10 as indicated by the arrows in FIGS. 1 and 2.

During this sequence of operations a control means is, of course, usedin a conventional manner. The control means 24 mounted upon the hood 22are used so as to actaute the motors 32 and 130 and to actaute variousother relays and circuit components of a conventional type, notspecifically described herein because of the known generalizedcharacter. It is noted, however, that these controls work in connectionwith the micro-switch 120 and 172 and the solenoid 162, the clutch 132and the brake 134 in such a manner that the micro-switch 172 causesactuation of the solenoid 162 when the lever 168 is engaged by a neck206 'so as to sever the length 202 from the strand 142. As aconventional time delay mechanism forming a part of it the controls 24actuate the brake 134 so as to turn the rollers 150 as soon as thesevered length 202 is picked up by a bag so as to advance the strand 142the correct length. Similarly the microswitch 120 is engaged by thecam-shaped end 116 of the plate 112 so as to actuate the brake 134 andthe clutch 132 in order to turn the tying screw 128 when a neck 206 islocated in its proper position with respect to this tying screw.

From a consideration of the foregoing those skilled in the art to whichthis invention pertains will realize that tying machines, such as themachine 10, can be continuously operated so as to rapidly tie the necksof various types of bags or similar structures containing goods of onetype or another and that these machines are compartively simple toconstruct and to utilize, and because of their simplicity that thesemachines are comparatively extremely reliable in use. Because of thenature of this invention and the fact that many different changes of aroutine engineering nature may be made in the specific structure shownwithout departing from the essential features of operation andconstruction described herein, this invention is to be limited solely bythe appended claims forming a part of this disclosure.

We claim:

1. A bag tying machine which comprises, in combination:

a pair of support plates having spaced adjacent edges defining :a slotbetween said plates; holding means for holding the tops of bagsextending thnough said slot and for moving the tops of said bags alongsaid slot;

engaging means for engaging portions of bags held by said holding meanslocated remote from said holding means and for twisting the necks ofbags so held as said bag tops are moved along said slot;

stabilizing means for holding bags twisted by said engaging means andheld by said holding means so that the necks of said bags remain[twisted as said bags are moved along said slot;

closure locating means for locating a self supporting closure capable ofbeing bent to a desired configuration around a twisted neck of a bagheld by said holding means and by said stabilizing means;

and closure tying means for twisting closures located around the necksof bags held by said holding means and said engaging means tightly aboutthe necks of such bags so as to do such bags closed, all of saidaforegoing means being operatively associated with one another.

2. A bag tying machine as defined in claim 1 wherein said holding meansinclude: two holding belts located adjacent to one another so as to becapable of clamping a top of a bag between said holding belts duringmovement of said holding belts and means for moving said holding belts.

3. A bag tying machine as defined in claim 2 wherein said means forholding also include means for resiliently holding said belts in contactwith one another.

4. A bag tying machine as defined in claim 2 wherein said engaging meanscomprises: an elongated member having a surface designed to engage theprincipal portion of a bag held by said holding belts so as to causesuch a portion of said bag to rotate, resulting in the neck of such abag being twisted.

5. A bag tying machine which comprises in combination:

holding means for holding the tops of bags, said holding means includingtwo holding belts located adjacent to one another so as to be capable ofclamping a top of a bag between said hoiding belts during movement ofsaid holding belts and means for moving said holding belts;

engaging means for engaging portions of bags held by said holding meanslocated remote from said holding means and for twisting the necks ofbags so held and wherein said engaging means comprises an elongatedmember having a surface designed to engage the principal portion of abag held by said holding belts so as to cause such a portion of said bagto 7 rotate, resulting in the neck of such a bag being twisted;

stabilizing means for holding bags twisted by said en- :gaging means andheld by said holding means so that the necks of said bags remaintwisted, and wherein said stabilizing means includes a stabilizing beltlocated beneath said holding belts, said stabilizing belt being capableof engaging a bag held by said holding belts to prevent the neck of sucha bag from untwisting.

6. A bag tying machine as defined in claim 5 wherein said closure tyingmeans comprises: a helical member located between said holding belts andsaid engaging be ts and means for rotating said helical member so as tobring said helical member into contact with a closure 15 top held bysaid holding belts and its principal portionheld by said engaging belts:as said helical member contacts a closure located around the neck ofsuch a bag.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,712,454 Spencer May 7, 1929 2,425,581 Vincent Aug. 12, 1947 2,711,278Gray June 21, 1955 2,898,817 Lu-tz Aug. 11, 1959 2,924,924 Jarapalo Feb.16-, 1960

1. A BAG TYING MACHINE WHICH COMPRISES, IN COMBINATION: A PAIR OFSUPPORT PLATES HAVING SPACED ADJACENT EDGES DEFINING A SLOT BETWEEN SAIDPLATES; HOLDING MEANS FOR HOLDING THE TOPS OF BAGS EXTENDING THROUGHSAID SLOT AND FOR MOVING THE TOPS OF SAID BAGS ALONG SAID SLOT; ENGAGINGMEANS FOR ENGAGING PORTIONS OF BAGS HELD BY SAID HOLDING MEANS LOCATEDREMOTE FROM SAID HOLDING MEANS AND FOR TWISTING THE NECKS OF BAGS SOHELD AS SAID BAG TOPS ARE MOVED ALONG SAID SLOT; STABILIZING MEANS FORHOLDING BAGS TWISTED BY SAID ENGAGING MEANS AND HELD BY SAID HOLDINGMEANS SO THAT THE NECKS OF SAID BAGS REMAIN TWISTED AS SAID BAGS AREMOVED ALONG SAID SLOT; CLOSURE LOCATING MEANS FOR LOCATING A SELFSUPPORTING CLOSURE CAPABLE OF BEING BENT TO A DESIRED CONFIGURATIONAROUND A TWISTED NECK OF A BAG HELD BY SAID HOLDING MEANS AND BY SAIDSTABILIZING MEANS; AND CLOSURE TYING MEANS FOR TWISTING CLOSURES LOCATEDAROUND THE NECKS OF BAGS HELD BY SAID HOLDING MEANS AND SAID ENGAGINGMEANS TIGHTLY ABOUT THE NECKS OF SUCH BAGS SO AS TO TIE SUCH BAGSCLOSED, ALL OF SAID AFOREGOING MEANS BEING OPERATIVELY ASSOCIATED WITHONE ANOTHER.